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| (Source: Ternell) |
Samsung Electronics has obtained licenses to four U.S. patents originally developed at UNIST, according to records from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The licenses, recorded in December 2025, cover patents titled "Ternary Memory Cell and Memory Device Comprising Same" (US 12,165,699), "Ternary Memory Cell for Logic-in-Memory and Memory Device Comprising Same" (US 11,727,988), "Tunnel Field Effect Transistor and Ternary Inverter Comprising Same" (US 12,009,393), and "Transistor, Ternary Inverter Comprising Same, and Transistor Manufacturing Method" (US 12,154,950).
The patents relate to ternary, or three-valued, logic and memory technologies intended to improve computing efficiency beyond conventional binary architectures. The '699 patent describes a ternary memory cell capable of storing multi-level data to increase memory density, while the '988 patent focuses on a logic-in-memory–oriented ternary memory design aimed at reducing data movement, power consumption and latency. The '393 patent discloses a tunnel field-effect transistor–based approach to implementing ternary inverters at low operating voltages, supporting ultra-low-power logic, and the '950 patent addresses transistor structures and manufacturing methods for ternary inverters with an emphasis on practical manufacturability.
According to public records, the four U.S. patents were transferred from UNIST to Ulsan-based chip startup Ternell, founded in 2019. Ternell has said it is developing a ternary-CMOS device architecture, and its chief executive officer is listed as the principal inventor on the patents. The applications were filed between 2021 and 2022 and issued between 2023 and 2024.
In parallel, Samsung also secured nonexclusive licenses in October 2025 to two related South Korean patents held by UNIST — KR2206020 and KR2172380 — which similarly cover ternary memory cell technologies for logic-in-memory applications. Those Korean patents were filed in 2019 and granted between 2020 and 2021.
The licensing activity comes amid broader collaboration between Samsung and South Korea's science and engineering institutes. In March 2023, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced plans to establish semiconductor contract-based academic programs in cooperation with Samsung at UNIST, the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology and the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has operated a similar program with Samsung since late 2021.
By PatenTrip
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